The new Avon Theatre was mentioned in the March 31, 1934 issue of Motion Picture Herald, which said that Gordon Ballew had been named manager, and added that “[t]he house is owned by local business men and constructed at a cost of $65,000.” The Avon had opened in February.
This house opened in 1926 as the Imperial Theatre. On December 11, 1932 it was taken over by the Paramount affiliate North Carolina Theatres, which operated it as a B-movie and sub-run house in conjunction with their State Theatre, the former Universal Theatre, acquired at the same time.
When Paramount opened their new Center Theatre in 1941, they converted the State into their B-house and closed the Imperial. It sat dark for over two years, then was reopened as the Strand by an independent operator in October, 1943. The Strand ran its last movies August, 1949.
A fairly extensive history of the State Theatre can be found on this web page. The house opened in 1922 as the Universal Theatre, which had operated earlier at another location. It became the State Theatre in 1933, and for the next several years competed with the new Avon Theatre (1934) for the position of the town’s leading theater.
The State’s smaller sister theater, the Imperial, was the town’s B-movie and sub-run house, while the State presented first run movie, often with vaudeville shows, though these became fewer as the years passed. In 1941, the operating company opened the new Center Theatre, which took the State’s place as the town’s outlet for Paramount pictures. The Imperial Theatre was closed and the State replaced it as the town’s B-movie and sub-run house.
The State became an independent operation in 1950 and, with other small town theaters, slipped into a gradual decline. For part of the next decade it was operating only two days a week, and ran a great many exploitation movies, though it still had an occasional live performance, particularly of country music. The last movie advertised in the local paper at the State was shown on September 27, 1960, though the house did sometimes run unadvertised shows, so there might have been some movies shown after that date. What is certain is that the lobby of the theater was converted for use as a hairdressing salon in early 1963, and the auditorium sat intact but vacant for decades.
The same website providing the page about the State also has this page about the house’s earlier life as the Universal Theatre. The Universal opened on May 9, 1922. In 1926, a new owner had a Wurlitzer organ installed. Lenoir heard its first talking picture at the Universal on May 20, 1929. The Universal and its sister theater, the Imperial, were taken over by Paramount-affiliated North Carolina Theatres on December 11, 1932.
The Olympia Theatre was listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. In 1915, the Star and Whipple Amusement Company sold the Olympia to Mrs. R. C. Howell, according to the June 26 issue of Motography.
The closing of the Amusement Hall at North Wales was noted in the Pennsylvania section of the “Theatre Changes” column in The Film Daily of June 2, 1930.
The second Princess/Kickapoo Theatre opened in 1917. I see that the 1944 Kickapoo grand opening ad rivest266 just posted gives the address as 315 E. Commercial Street. An October 13, 1956 Boxoffice item announcing the launch of an art movie series at the Kickapoo said that the house was operated by Fox Midwest Theatres.
Although the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory lists the original Princess Theatre at 408 E. Commercial, the web page I cited in an earlier comment says that it was on the south side of Commercial two doors east of Benton Avenue, which puts it in the modern 500 E. block. Currently the second door east of Benton is occupied by Ruthie’s C Street Bar, at 504 E. Commercial. It is a very old building, and if the original Princess was there it is still standing.
Addresses in Springfield are very weird. In the middle of the block of Commercial between Booneville Avenue and Campbell Avenue the numbers instantly jump from the 200 E. block to the 300 W. block. I have no idea how to account for the three missing blocks. Perhaps they are the site of the Missouri branch of Hogwarts Academy.
The Roxy was advertised in the May 23, 1933 issue of the Harrisburg Evening News. An adult ticket was fifteen cents, and kids got in for a dime. On that night, you could see the 1931 drama Street Scene, starring Sylvia Sydney.
The April 6, 1939 issue of Motion Picture Daily said that the Tenefly Theatre, formerly the Bergen, would reopen on April 8. This theater switched back and forth between the names Bergen and Tenafly more than once, as there are references to it as the Tenafly in 1928 and as the Bergen in 1956. An April, 1927 Exhibitors Daily Review item said that the remodeled Tenafly Theatre had recently reopened as the Bergen. The 1926 FDY lists it as the Tenafly. The July 7, 1958 Motion Picture Daily calls it the New Bergen.
The January 5, 1940 issue of The Film Daily had this item:
“Canton, 0. — New Park Theater, owned and under the personal management of George S. Ellis, has been opened at nearby North Canton. House is included in a building estimated to have cost $60,000, erected by M. M. and J. B. Mohler. An innovation is ‘love seats’ advertised as ‘cozy as your own couch.’”
I’m puzzled by this item in the July 2, 1927 issue of Moving Picture World:
“One of the oldest theatres in Cincinnati, namely, Keith’s, is to be razed, and with its passing Cincinnati will be minus the two-a-day policy which has been in vogue here for many years, according to a statement issued personally by E. F. Albee, on a recent visit to the city. In place of the present theatre an elaborate new structure will be erected to the city. In place of the present theatre an elaborate new structure will be erected to house a continuous policy of vaudeville and pictures, similar to the Palace Theatre, another Cincinnati Keith house, established nine years ago.”
If Keith’s Theatre was rebuilt in 1921, why would there have been plans to rebuild it again in 1927?
St. Joseph Memory Lane has a clipping from the March 8, 1950 issue of the St. Joseph News-Press with a photo of the demolition of the Crystal Theatre, then underway. The caption says the house opened on October 30, 1906 as the Curd Theatre, owned by Isaac Curd. It was leased to the Crystal vaudeville circuit, who renamed it the Crystal Theatre. The Crystal circuit, later taken over by Alexander Pantages, operated a chain of ten-cent theaters in Colorado and Missouri.
An item datelined Central City, Neb. in the July 1, 1916 issue of The Moving Picture World said that “[a] moving picture theater will occupy the lower floor of a building which S. A. Danielson will erect on Main Street.” The August 26 issue of the same journal said that “[t]he new moving picture theater here, which will be managed by D. L. Donelson, will be known as the Donelson theater.”
Main Street turns out to be an aka for G Avenue, also now known as Highway 30, though in the past it has been called Broad Street and Stitzer Avenue. It is also part of the Lincoln Highway. The Donelson Theatre was somewhere on the north side of G Avenue, between C and D Streets, but I’ve been unable to find the exact address.
The March 30, 1910 issue of the Reynoldsville Star made reference to “the opening play” at the Adelphi Theatre, which was to take place April 7. Other sources confirm April 7, 1910 as the opening date. The names Adelphi and Adelphia seem to have been used interchangeably in the house’s early years, with stage publications such as the Cahn guide and Hill’s directory usually using the former and the movie trade journals most often using the latter.
The Stuart Theatre was in Stuart’s old Masonic Temple Building, built in 1894. I’ve been unable to find the theater’s years of operation, or its exact address, but the building itself (now called the Clocktower) is at 111 NW 2nd Street. It has a Facebook page, but I see no historical information or photos on it.
A photo caption in an issue of The Gazette, the local paper, says that “…the Delphus Theater… opened on Aug. 15, 1907, in the south store room of Marion’s Masonic Temple. It operated until about 1911.” The Masonic Temple Building, built in 1895, is still standing, though extensively remodeled, and has a Facebook page. The theater’s space, at 660 10th Street, is now occupied by a retail store.
The January 30, 1913 issue of The Loup City Northwestern had an advertisement with this text: “Eugene Perry Offers His Excellent Drama In Four Acts ‘Kidnaped [sic] For a Million’ With The Four Perrys and Company One Night Only, Feb. 5, 1913 Daddow Opera House”
The Daddow Theatre is listed in the 1914 edition of Gus Hill’s Theatrical Directory as a 650-seat, ground floor house. The stage was only 28 feet wide and 22 feet deep. The only house listed at Loup City in the 1912-1913 Cahn guide is called the Gem, which has only 260 seats, also on the ground floor.
A movie house called the Princess Theatre was mentioned in the July 5, 1913 issue of The Nashville News. The most recent mention of the Princess I’ve found in that paper is from December 31, 1921. As we don’t have an address for the Princess, is it possible that it became the Liberty, which opened in 1922?
The April 4, 1939 issue of The Film Daily had an article about the recent expansion of the K. Lee Williams Theatres circuit, which had just added seven houses to the chain. This paragraph concerns the theaters in Nashville:
“Also purchased was the New theater at Nashville, Ark., from H. H. Baker of Emerson, Ark. Baker had been operating the house under a lease agreement with R. V. McGinnis. Williams theaters secured a closed town by also purchasing the Liberty and Gem theaters at Nashville, Ark., from R. B. Hardy. The Gem will be closed for complete remodeling. Temporary manager for Nashville is O. P. Peachey.”
It has occurred to me that the “New theater” mentioned in the article could have been the Howard, which actually was a new theater at the time. The house might have actually operated under the name New Theatre for a while before Williams took it over, or maybe Film Daily was just careless with the capitalization and meant only to indicate that it was a new theater. One can never be sure with these hastily-assembled trade journals.
The Central Opera House building was destroyed by a fire in 2012.
The new Avon Theatre was mentioned in the March 31, 1934 issue of Motion Picture Herald, which said that Gordon Ballew had been named manager, and added that “[t]he house is owned by local business men and constructed at a cost of $65,000.” The Avon had opened in February.
This house opened in 1926 as the Imperial Theatre. On December 11, 1932 it was taken over by the Paramount affiliate North Carolina Theatres, which operated it as a B-movie and sub-run house in conjunction with their State Theatre, the former Universal Theatre, acquired at the same time.
When Paramount opened their new Center Theatre in 1941, they converted the State into their B-house and closed the Imperial. It sat dark for over two years, then was reopened as the Strand by an independent operator in October, 1943. The Strand ran its last movies August, 1949.
A fairly extensive history of the State Theatre can be found on this web page. The house opened in 1922 as the Universal Theatre, which had operated earlier at another location. It became the State Theatre in 1933, and for the next several years competed with the new Avon Theatre (1934) for the position of the town’s leading theater.
The State’s smaller sister theater, the Imperial, was the town’s B-movie and sub-run house, while the State presented first run movie, often with vaudeville shows, though these became fewer as the years passed. In 1941, the operating company opened the new Center Theatre, which took the State’s place as the town’s outlet for Paramount pictures. The Imperial Theatre was closed and the State replaced it as the town’s B-movie and sub-run house.
The State became an independent operation in 1950 and, with other small town theaters, slipped into a gradual decline. For part of the next decade it was operating only two days a week, and ran a great many exploitation movies, though it still had an occasional live performance, particularly of country music. The last movie advertised in the local paper at the State was shown on September 27, 1960, though the house did sometimes run unadvertised shows, so there might have been some movies shown after that date. What is certain is that the lobby of the theater was converted for use as a hairdressing salon in early 1963, and the auditorium sat intact but vacant for decades.
The same website providing the page about the State also has this page about the house’s earlier life as the Universal Theatre. The Universal opened on May 9, 1922. In 1926, a new owner had a Wurlitzer organ installed. Lenoir heard its first talking picture at the Universal on May 20, 1929. The Universal and its sister theater, the Imperial, were taken over by Paramount-affiliated North Carolina Theatres on December 11, 1932.
The Olympia Theatre was listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. In 1915, the Star and Whipple Amusement Company sold the Olympia to Mrs. R. C. Howell, according to the June 26 issue of Motography.
The March 9, 1937 issue of The Film Daily said that the New Theatre in Vicco, Kentucky, had been renamed the State Theatre.
The closing of the Amusement Hall at North Wales was noted in the Pennsylvania section of the “Theatre Changes” column in The Film Daily of June 2, 1930.
Liebenberg & Kaplan were the architects for the 1938 remodeling.
The Delmar Garden Theatre was listed at 505 St. Louis Street in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
The second Princess/Kickapoo Theatre opened in 1917. I see that the 1944 Kickapoo grand opening ad rivest266 just posted gives the address as 315 E. Commercial Street. An October 13, 1956 Boxoffice item announcing the launch of an art movie series at the Kickapoo said that the house was operated by Fox Midwest Theatres.
Although the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory lists the original Princess Theatre at 408 E. Commercial, the web page I cited in an earlier comment says that it was on the south side of Commercial two doors east of Benton Avenue, which puts it in the modern 500 E. block. Currently the second door east of Benton is occupied by Ruthie’s C Street Bar, at 504 E. Commercial. It is a very old building, and if the original Princess was there it is still standing.
Addresses in Springfield are very weird. In the middle of the block of Commercial between Booneville Avenue and Campbell Avenue the numbers instantly jump from the 200 E. block to the 300 W. block. I have no idea how to account for the three missing blocks. Perhaps they are the site of the Missouri branch of Hogwarts Academy.
The Roxy was advertised in the May 23, 1933 issue of the Harrisburg Evening News. An adult ticket was fifteen cents, and kids got in for a dime. On that night, you could see the 1931 drama Street Scene, starring Sylvia Sydney.
The April 6, 1939 issue of Motion Picture Daily said that the Tenefly Theatre, formerly the Bergen, would reopen on April 8. This theater switched back and forth between the names Bergen and Tenafly more than once, as there are references to it as the Tenafly in 1928 and as the Bergen in 1956. An April, 1927 Exhibitors Daily Review item said that the remodeled Tenafly Theatre had recently reopened as the Bergen. The 1926 FDY lists it as the Tenafly. The July 7, 1958 Motion Picture Daily calls it the New Bergen.
The clipping rivest266 linked to says that the Park Royal Twin Theatres were designed by architect Ross Ritchie of Townley, Matheson & Associates.
The January 5, 1940 issue of The Film Daily had this item:
I’m puzzled by this item in the July 2, 1927 issue of Moving Picture World:
If Keith’s Theatre was rebuilt in 1921, why would there have been plans to rebuild it again in 1927?The Lake Theatre was gutted by a fire on May 5, 1969, and never reopened. It was soon demolished.
St. Joseph Memory Lane has a clipping from the March 8, 1950 issue of the St. Joseph News-Press with a photo of the demolition of the Crystal Theatre, then underway. The caption says the house opened on October 30, 1906 as the Curd Theatre, owned by Isaac Curd. It was leased to the Crystal vaudeville circuit, who renamed it the Crystal Theatre. The Crystal circuit, later taken over by Alexander Pantages, operated a chain of ten-cent theaters in Colorado and Missouri.
St. Joseph Memory Lane lists the Colonial Theatre at 111 N. 7th Street. It notes that the building was demolished as part of an urban renewal project.
An item datelined Central City, Neb. in the July 1, 1916 issue of The Moving Picture World said that “[a] moving picture theater will occupy the lower floor of a building which S. A. Danielson will erect on Main Street.” The August 26 issue of the same journal said that “[t]he new moving picture theater here, which will be managed by D. L. Donelson, will be known as the Donelson theater.”
Main Street turns out to be an aka for G Avenue, also now known as Highway 30, though in the past it has been called Broad Street and Stitzer Avenue. It is also part of the Lincoln Highway. The Donelson Theatre was somewhere on the north side of G Avenue, between C and D Streets, but I’ve been unable to find the exact address.
The March 30, 1910 issue of the Reynoldsville Star made reference to “the opening play” at the Adelphi Theatre, which was to take place April 7. Other sources confirm April 7, 1910 as the opening date. The names Adelphi and Adelphia seem to have been used interchangeably in the house’s early years, with stage publications such as the Cahn guide and Hill’s directory usually using the former and the movie trade journals most often using the latter.
The Stuart Theatre was in Stuart’s old Masonic Temple Building, built in 1894. I’ve been unable to find the theater’s years of operation, or its exact address, but the building itself (now called the Clocktower) is at 111 NW 2nd Street. It has a Facebook page, but I see no historical information or photos on it.
A photo caption in an issue of The Gazette, the local paper, says that “…the Delphus Theater… opened on Aug. 15, 1907, in the south store room of Marion’s Masonic Temple. It operated until about 1911.” The Masonic Temple Building, built in 1895, is still standing, though extensively remodeled, and has a Facebook page. The theater’s space, at 660 10th Street, is now occupied by a retail store.
The January 30, 1913 issue of The Loup City Northwestern had an advertisement with this text: “Eugene Perry Offers His Excellent Drama In Four Acts ‘Kidnaped [sic] For a Million’ With The Four Perrys and Company One Night Only, Feb. 5, 1913 Daddow Opera House”
The Daddow Theatre is listed in the 1914 edition of Gus Hill’s Theatrical Directory as a 650-seat, ground floor house. The stage was only 28 feet wide and 22 feet deep. The only house listed at Loup City in the 1912-1913 Cahn guide is called the Gem, which has only 260 seats, also on the ground floor.
A movie house called the Princess Theatre was mentioned in the July 5, 1913 issue of The Nashville News. The most recent mention of the Princess I’ve found in that paper is from December 31, 1921. As we don’t have an address for the Princess, is it possible that it became the Liberty, which opened in 1922?
The April 4, 1939 issue of The Film Daily had an article about the recent expansion of the K. Lee Williams Theatres circuit, which had just added seven houses to the chain. This paragraph concerns the theaters in Nashville:
It has occurred to me that the “New theater” mentioned in the article could have been the Howard, which actually was a new theater at the time. The house might have actually operated under the name New Theatre for a while before Williams took it over, or maybe Film Daily was just careless with the capitalization and meant only to indicate that it was a new theater. One can never be sure with these hastily-assembled trade journals.